Well, Boston Celtics fans, it seems all good things must come to an end.
Coming off the heels of a blowout win (135-87) over Philadelphia, the shamrocks entered Wednesday night looking to extend their win streak to a season-high ten games. For the Pistons, they would look to pick up their first win of February.
The first half of basketball proved to be much tougher for the Celtics than Tuesday’s affair.
After the first 24 minutes of action, Boston led the Pistons by just four points (52-48). Playing without the injured Marcus Smart and Robert Williams III, the C’s needed to lean on their two stars.
Jaylen Brown was able to build off of his 29 point performance against the Sixers by adding 15 points in the first half against Detroit.
Jayson Tatum took over some of the play-making duties in the first half, posting 11 points and five assists. Rounding out the first-half double-figure contributors for the Celtics was Al Horford who posted 11 points, six rebounds, and two assists.
Heading into the second half the Boston Celtics were still unable to pull away from the last place Pistons.
In fact, the Pistons outscored the C’s 36-31 in the third quarter to take a one-point lead coming into the fourth.
Jaylen Brown continued to show why he was the biggest 2022 All-Star snub.
The 6-6 wing tacked on 14 points in the third quarter, but just two in the fourth.
Jayson Tatum poured in 22 points but it still wasn’t enough to get the Celtics a win.
Without Smart and Williams, Al Horford turned back the clock, posting 19 points, seven boards, and seven assists on 8-10 shooting from the floor and 2-3 shooting from deep.
Horford even drilled a go-ahead three with 33 seconds left in the fourth.
A Jerami Grant two followed it up, unfortunately, which would put Detroit ahead 112-111 with 16 seconds left.
Cade Cunnigham, Saddiq Bey, and Jerami Grant would all score 20 plus points for Detroit.
The next possession would lead to a Jaylen Brown shot attempt being blocked.
The Pistons would then inbound, but Derrick White nearly stole the game as he swiped the pass from Cunningham. However, the take foul reared its ugly head, as Cunningham quickly fouled White to stop the Celtics in transition.
Jayson Tatum would get a chance to win the game with a deep two but came up short.
For Boston, this was their first loss of February, while the Pistons picked up their first win of the month. Luckily for the Celtics, this was their final game before the All-Star break.
This will allow them to get healthy and hopefully be at full strength when they return from the short vacation.
Although it was a disappointing night for Boston Celtics fans, there were still plenty of positives to look forward to.
Here are 3 takeaways from the C’s win-streak ending loss to the Detroit Pistons: